“The most noteworthy point is that the this plan confirms that Saudi Arabia is going to maintain its current policy in oil markets—defending market share and ignoring commercially unwise calls for an output cut,” said Omar Al-Ubaydli, a program director at the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies.

“Any speculators who were hanging on to the hope that internal and external political pressure would lead the Saudis into a commercial error [output cut] should really consider moving on, and accept that the Saudis are not going to cut output for the benefit of other producers, and at a significant cost to themselves,” he said.